


Routine

by anxiety_junkie



Category: Firefly
Genre: M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-01
Updated: 2007-09-01
Packaged: 2019-04-29 09:45:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14470005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiety_junkie/pseuds/anxiety_junkie
Summary: Simon goes through his day.





	Routine

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Firefly’s Glow](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Firefly%27s_Glow), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Firefly's Glow collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fireflysglow/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** Character death.

  
Author's notes: Character death.  


* * *

Routine

## Routine

Simon woke from a thankfully dreamless sleep. There was a time, long before, when he would remember fragments of his dreams, shimmering in his memory like reflections in a pond. But now his eyes opened quickly, without pausing to mull over any images that might remain. He got up immediately, washed up in the basin and pulled on some clothes, reminding himself to do some laundry later. He hadn't bought much by way of clothing since they boarded Serenity two years earlier, and his white shirts were starting to get a little threadbare. He very carefully ignored the flat metal rectangle sitting on the bedside table as he left the room. 

He went straight to the infirmary to start his daily routine of scrubbing the counters and wiping down the medbed. He did this every day as soon as he got up, leaving the rest of the cleaning and organizing for later. At one point he found a roll of medical tape that had been left on the counter, probably by Mal; he'd been injured on a job two days earlier, and despite having a highly trained medic on board he tended to change his own bandages when needed, usually in the middle of the night. Simon stared at the tape for a long time before putting it in the proper drawer. 

Once that chore was finished, he went upstairs to the galley for breakfast. Though Mal got up before anyone else, Simon generally made breakfast, though the captain always left enough hot water for tea for the rest of the crew. Searching through the cupboards for something vaguely edible, he found a can of mandarin oranges that wasn't quite expired. Digging out a few packets of protein, he carefully cut up the oranges into small pieces before reconstituting the pinkish powder in a pot, then scraped the bits into it. Having fruit with breakfast would be a nice change, even if it was canned. 

Kaylee wandered in just as it was finished, and he served her first, responding to her brilliant smile with a small one of his own. She didn't speak to him, knowing he would give her little or no response if she did; she had given up trying to get him to speak outside of the infirmary weeks ago. To keep the silence from becoming too uncomfortable, however, he ate quickly and left the galley. 

Following his normal pattern, Simon returned to the infirmary to complete the rest of his daily self-imposed tasks. Serenity wasn't scheduled to land on Persephone until tomorrow, so he had the entire day for himself, unless someone got injured while doing their own chores. It didn't happen often, but Kaylee had scraped herself up more than once in the engine room, and Zoe's back tended to give her fits if she did too much heavy lifting. 

Simon spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning, organizing, and compiling an inventory of their medical supplies. Mal had told him the day before that this job would bring in enough cash that he would be able to stock up, so he wanted a complete list to give to the captain. It still wasn't safe for him to do the shopping himself this close to the Core, and Mal needed everything spelled out clearly in order to bring back the correct supplies. As ignorant as the man was to anything remotely medical in nature, Simon often wondered how he had managed to survive the war and so many years on his own with so few scars. 

Once the infirmary was as clean as it could possibly get, he went back to his room and gathered up clothes for laundry. It was close to dinnertime by then, and he never avoided that meal, preferring the silence at the table to Mal's stares or a lecture about how he needed to take care of himself. He'd gotten just a few too many of those lectures in the past few months, from both Mal and Zoe, to want to repeat the experience. 

After dinner, he finished the laundry and brought it back to his room to fold it carefully and put everything away. Even here, in his small room with its faded yellow walls and shabby furnishings, all of his belongings had their own place. He had always been a creature of habit, but that instinct had risen to the fore since...well, since recently. 

The flat metal rectangle still lay next to the bed, silently calling to him. He was never strong enough in the evenings to ignore it, the monotony of his day wearing him down as always. Giving in as he did every night, he sat on the edge of the bed, slowly picked up the capture and hit `play'. 

Jayne appeared, larger than life despite the small screen, wearing the rusty Fighting Elves tee shirt he'd loved so much. Simon had loved that shirt too; River had been right when she said he looked better in red. He was standing next to Mal as they threw horseshoes and chatted with one another. The conversation probably wasn't about anything important, since for once neither man was scowling. But Simon had eyes only for Jayne as he waited for that one moment. 

There. Jayne looked directly at the camera and grinned, then stuck out his tongue like a little boy. For one perfect moment, he looked carefree and happy, standing proud amongst his family. His mouth moved as if speaking, but Simon had the sound off; he never listened to what was said, content to simply watch and remember. 

The smile on the merc's face became a smirk as River danced into view, spinning around the two men like a top. Mal silently called something to her, probably a warning to be careful, but she ignored him as she usually did, lost in the music in her head. Simon saw himself walking sedately behind her, and watched Jayne's face soften into a real smile as they looked at one another. Simon-in-the-capture stopped very close to Jayne and they leaned towards each other, not quite touching though it was clear they wanted to. The camera angle moved until it showed their profiles, the taller man bending down and the shorter one smiling up at him. 

Simon froze the screen there, ignoring the prickling behind his eyes as he gazed at the two faces so close to one another. He had done this every night for the last six months, since his lover and his sister were killed in a heist gone wrong, as they so often did. River had been killed instantly by a bullet piercing her skull, but Jayne had died on the medbed with his lover's hands buried deep inside him, trying desperately to put him back together. Kaylee had taken this capture a few weeks before; after Wash and Book died, she decided they needed snapshots of their lives, just in case. She had handed this to him the day after the funeral, but it had been weeks before he could work up the courage to look at it. 

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Simon carefully placed the capture face down on the table. He changed into his sleeping pants, shut off the light and crawled into his empty bed, trying not to listen to the silence in the room across from his and hoping for another dreamless night. 

~fin 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title:   **Routine**  
Author:   **noandwhere**   [website]  
Details:   **Standalone**  |  **PG**  |  ***slash***  |  **6k**  |  **09/01/07**  
Pairings:  Jayne/Simon  
Summary:  Simon goes through his day.  
Notes:  Character death.  
  



End file.
